1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat air-conditioning system for air-conditioning the cabin by blowing out air-conditioned air from vehicle seats.
2. Description of the Invention
A conventional technique disclosed in JP-A-59-164552 is well known. This air-conditioning system is so configured that the air-conditioned air is supplied to the seats through ducts from a front duct of the vehicle and blown out from the seat surface. In this conventional system, a seat cooling air duct is connected as a branch from the face duct of the front air-conditioning unit, and a seat warming air duct is connected as a branch from the foot duct of the front air-conditioning unit. The cooling air duct and the warming air duct merge with each other and finally form a single long seat duct.
A cool/warm air switching door (damper) is arranged at the confluence of the cooling air duct and the warming air duct. As long as the front unit is in face mode, the cool/warm air switching door opens the cooling air duct and closes the warming air duct. Therefore, part of the cooling air from the face duct is supplied through the cooling air duct to the seat duct. As a result, the cooling air can be blown out of the seat.
When the front unit is in foot mode, on the other hand, the cool/warm air switching door opens the warming air duct and closes the cooling air duct, so that part of the warm air from the foot duct is supplied through the warming air duct to the seat duct. Thus, the hot air can be blown out of the seat.
The above-mentioned conventional seat air-conditioning system is so configured that the cooling air and the warming air are switched and supplied to the seat through a dedicated seat duct. The problem, however, is that a long seat duct, as well as a cooling air duct and a warming air duct switched by a door, is required as a component independent of the front air-conditioning unit. This complicates the configuration and poses the problem of higher cost and larger space required.